Brisbane City backing Michael Gunn to fire against Sydney Stars in National Rugby Championship opener

Brisbane City has pinned its hopes on teenager Michael Gunn to fill the void left by the injured Liam Gill in Thursday night's National Rugby Championship (NRC) opener against the Sydney Stars at Ballymore.

Gill will miss the Stars encounter because of an upper body injury he sustained for Sunnybank in last Sunday's Queensland Premier Rugby grand final but is expected to be sidelined for only one match.

His absence, though, has provided Gunn the opportunity to show his wares on a national stage, with the 19-year-old openside flanker having already made a name for himself in Brisbane club circles.

The Easts number seven won the Tony Shaw Medal for man-of-the-match in last year's Premier Rugby grand final, while he became a social media sensation when video of a crunching tackle he made on former Reds winger Rod Davies in a club match went viral.

... you lose Gilly and you replace him with Gunny. It's not too much of an offset for us.

Nick Stiles

Gunn's defensive skills are matched by impressive speed and the ability to play hard on the ball at the breakdown and he is regarded as a star on the rise, having been a part of the Reds A and under 20 programs this season.

City head coach Nick Stiles is excited to be unleashing Gunn against the Stars, as he believes the 2012 Australian Schoolboy can play the same scavenger role Gill performs for the Reds.

"He's very similar to Liam Gill, he's very hard on the football, he likes putting his head in dark places, which is very important for an openside flanker," Stiles said at Ballymore on Tuesday.

"He also brings an attacking flair to the game, he's got very good acceleration, he reads the game very well and he's got that good blend just like Gilly.

"So you lose Gilly and you replace him with Gunny. It's not too much of an offset for us."

Gunn will be joined in the back row by Reds number eight Jake Schatz and Adam Korczyk, who was named to start at blindside flanker after City captain Curtis Browning picked up a shoulder injury in University's 20-18 win over Sunnybank in the Premier Rugby grand final at Ballymore.

Reds centre Ben Tapuai is also unavailable long term because of an ankle injury, allowing Toby White the chance to partner Samu Kerevi in the midfield.

Stiles, a Reds assistant coach, stressed the need for his forward pack to deliver a steady flow of possession to Kerevi, as well as the speedy wing pairing of Chris Kuridrani and Harry Parker.

"Samu Kerevi was one of the real finds of the season for us (Reds)," he said.

"We want to get him with a lot of ball and also players like Harry Parker, who was an outstanding contributor to University's win on Sunday and he's a genuine finisher, so we want to see him with the ball in hand as much as possible."

McDuling to lead City with Browning sidelined

Dave McDuling will captain City in the absence of Red Heavies colleague Browning and his stint playing with Sydney University in the Shute Shield could give the home side a degree of inside knowledge when they face the Stars.

Sydney University and Balmain formed the Stars and the influence of the Students is noticeable in their player roster, while they also provided the joint venture's head coach in Chris Malone.

McDuling believes the Stars will hit the ground running in light of the Students establishing themselves as the pacesetter of the Shute Shield in the last 15 years.

"I think an advantage they may have is they will all be on the same page, they will be extremely well drilled and they will have some combinations," he said.

"They will be disappointed as well not taking out the Shute Shield for the first time in a few years, so I think they will be up here with a point to prove with a really good team combination and culture already."

Thursday night's match will be the first of four in the opening round of the NRC, which will see the nine teams play each other once in a round-robin format before a two-week finals series.

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